ARN’s commercial Hip Hop and R&B station, The Edge 96.ONE, which is soon to be relaunched nationally, has appointed Mango Communications, part of DDB Group, as its PR agency.
Mango will support the station across the PR and roll out of the rebrand, which is expected to include a new name.
The campaign will see Mango Communications drive rapid brand awareness around the new proposition, “amplifying the launch and sustaining the momentum through content and talent-led conversations.”
The Edge is known for its unrivalled connection to young audiences and strong presence in the digital space. The brand has identified the opportunity for potential expansion and growth in Australia’s under-served contemporary youth space, with further details regarding the rebrand to come.
In addition to the upcoming rebrand, The Edge has put together a new team of leaders, content makers, culture creators and out-of-the-box thinkers. There will be key staff announcements, alongside the talent announcements in coming weeks here on radioinfo.
General Manager Emily Copeland, previously the manager of youth community station FBi Radio is “excited to be working with Mango at such a pivotal time for The Edge. Our rebrand will be bolstered by Mango’s diverse range of expertise, national team, and progressive strategic and creative approach. We can’t wait to launch this exciting offering with Mango by our side.”
Mango Communications Sydney Managing Director Tabitha Fairbairn has told radioinfo: “Being appointed by the growing and fabulous team at The Edge sees Mango continue to bolster our list of partners.
“We are excited to be supporting The Edge as they further tap into youth culture – making an impact, sharing stories and creating connections. The brand’s history, future plans and unique offering set it up for a huge year in 2022.”
I've commented that one cannot assume that a "one size fits all" to programming a radio network works the same nationally for all markets.
Allowance should be made for each market despite "....The Edge ..." being "....known for its unrivalled connection to young audiences and strong presence in the digital space...." The brand has identified the opportunity for potential expansion and growth in Australia’s under-served contemporary youth space...." and the employment of various specialists in content generation including employing a former manager of FBi.
In other words, can you assume that the proportion of the underserved youth in Perth will have the same music preferences as the underserved youth in Sydney?
If the rebranded "The Edge", formerly 2KA does serve the underserved youth, it will be a challenge to the the ABC's JJJ audience which is currently as at Survey 1, 2022 to be between 5.8 and 7.7, ref, sibling publication https://radiotoday.com.au/radio-ratings-survey-1-for-2022/ .
Even based on JJJ's ratings nationally, the ratings vary in each capital city market indicate that the youth in Perth (at 7.7%) don't have the same tastes as youth in Melbourne (5.8%), otherwise the ratings would be the same in each market.
Thus, one cannot assume that the youth in one market have the same tastes as youth in another market. Therefore one has to adjust for each market in order to maximise audience reach.
This should be assessed on the profit and cost of analysiing each market versus the profit generated by a one size fits all market.
Nevertheless, if the rebranding of "The Edge" nationally succeeds, it could well challenge the market share of JJJ. Then if the market is satisfied by a new player in the form of a re-branded "The Edge", will JJJ be relevant? On the other hand, a rebranded "The Edge" may not be competing based on JJJ's non-music content such as current affairs and talk topics.
Thank you,
Anthony, of thinking Belfield in the land of the Wangal and Darug Peoples of the Eora Nation
It was a strategy that worked reasonably well for them with the KIIS rebranding so good luck to them I suppose. It may evolve into a good opportunity to reinvent the regional FM stations with mixed brandings that have been incorporated into the network from the merger with Grant Broadcasters.